FIELD NOTES

By the smoking beakers of Basil Valentine! This, THIS is Petroleum! Discovered by that infernal contraption, AZOTH. The viscous, black gold shimmers before my very eyes! AZOTH stumbled upon it after subjecting *Fossil*, the morbid result of Earth and Extinction, to Fire! It's creation, a twisted dance of creation and obliteration, starting with something as innocuous as Water and Fire becoming Steam. Then, the slow march through Rain, Jungle, Biodiversity, Ecosystem, and finally, the calamitous Extinction. I suspect some lingering life essence, trapped within the Fossil from its time as an Ecosystem, reacts with the alchemical fire, unlocking ancient sunlight in a dark, oily form. Why didn't *I* think of that? The Petroleum’s potential burns hotter than any furnace; the possibilities are as endless as the Ocean it spawned from. It’s more than just a fuel; it's concentrated history, bottled sunlight! I can practically taste the future, slick with this glorious ooze! This changes everything! The implications… oh, the implications! — Prof. Von Clawchemist, Solis 23, Ignis year